How to lock apps and keep a private folder on your phone

Handing your phone over to show someone a photo shouldn't mean handing over your email, your banking and your messages too. Both iPhone and Android can now lock individual apps, and keep private photos and files in a folder that needs your face, fingerprint or a code to open. Here's how to set it all up, in plain English.

Start with the lock that protects everything else

Every lock below leans on your phone's own passcode. If yours is four digits, or your birthday, fix that first.

iPhone

1. Open Settings and tap Face ID & Passcode (or Touch ID & Passcode on an iPhone with a Home button).
2. Tap Change Passcode, enter your current one, then tap Passcode Options.
3. Apple says the most secure choices are Custom Alphanumeric Code (letters and numbers) and Custom Numeric Code (a longer number). Pick one you can remember but nobody could guess.

While you're in Settings, check Display & Brightness › Auto-Lock is set to a minute or two, so the phone locks itself if you put it down.

Android

Open Settings, then Security and privacy, and find the screen lock option. A PIN of six digits or more, or a password, is much harder to guess than a four-digit PIN or a simple pattern.

iPhone: lock a single app with Face ID

On iOS 18 and iOS 26 you can make any app you choose ask for Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode before it opens.

1. Go to the Home Screen and find the app, for example your banking or email.
2. Touch and hold the app icon until the menu opens.
3. Tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode).

From then on, the app asks for your face or code every time it opens, and locks again as soon as you leave it. As a bonus, what's inside a locked app won't show in notification previews, search or Siri suggestions.

To switch it off, touch and hold the icon again and tap Don't Require Face ID.

A few of the apps that come with the iPhone can't be locked, including Settings, Camera, Contacts, Maps, Clock, Calculator, Find My and Shortcuts. If you'd rather an app disappeared from view altogether, see our guide to hiding apps.

iPhone: lock away private photos

The Photos app has a Hidden collection, and on current iPhones it's locked by default.

1. Open Photos and open the photo or video.
2. Tap the More button (the three dots), then Hide.

Hidden photos move to the Hidden collection (tap Collections, then Hidden under Utilities) and don't appear anywhere else. It needs Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode to open. If you use iCloud Photos, hiding a photo hides it on all your Apple devices.

For extra privacy you can remove the Hidden collection from view entirely: Settings › Apps › Photos, then turn off Show Hidden Album. And make sure Use Face ID is on in that same screen, which is what keeps it locked.

Android: a locked private space for apps

Android doesn't lock individual apps in the same way. Instead, phones on Android 15 or later have private space: a locked area you put apps into. When it's locked, those apps are completely stopped, and they don't show in your app list, search or notifications.

1. Open Settings, tap Security and privacy, then Private space.
2. Confirm with your screen lock and tap Set up.
3. Choose Choose new lock to give it its own PIN, separate from your phone's. That way, someone who knows your screen lock still can't get in.
4. Unlock private space and install the apps you want to keep private into it (touch and hold an app, then Install app in private space).

One catch: apps inside private space can't send you notifications while it's locked. That's perfect for a dating or shopping app, less so for anything you need to hear from promptly.

Android: Google Photos Locked Folder

For photos and videos, Google Photos has a Locked Folder.

1. Open Google Photos, tap Collections, then Locked, and follow Set up Locked Folder.
2. To move a photo in, open it, tap Add to, then Move to Locked Folder.

Two things to know. The Locked Folder uses your phone's screen lock, so anyone who knows that can open it. And unless you turn on Back up Locked Folder in the Photos settings, those photos are deleted if you uninstall Google Photos, clear its data or reset the phone. Decide which matters more to you before you move anything precious.

Samsung Galaxy: Secure Folder

Samsung phones have Secure Folder, which holds apps and files behind its own lock. You'll need a Samsung account.

1. Open Settings, then Security and privacy, More security settings, Secure Folder. (Some older Galaxy phones list it under Biometrics and security.)
2. Sign in to your Samsung account and choose a pattern, PIN or password for it.
3. Inside Secure Folder, tap the plus icon to add apps, or More options › Add files to move photos and documents in.

Keep a note of how to get back in. Samsung says if you forget both your Secure Folder code and your Samsung account password, you'll need to contact Samsung.

The honest limits

• Every one of these locks is only as strong as the code behind it.
• They stop nosy people, not a determined thief with your passcode. If your phone is stolen, change your key passwords from another device straight away.
• Locking an app doesn't stop it collecting data about you. For that, review its permissions or delete it; our guide to cleaning up your phone walks through it.
• For a child's phone, you want parental controls, not app locks. See our parents' guide and iPhone Screen Time guide.